Yesterday our local newspaper carried a front page article about a mattress factory that moved to a new facility. Included was a wonderful big picture of the employees (mostly men) standing and listening to the officials dedicating their new plant.

This morning I woke up on my mattress and started thinking about the joy of having a nice comfy place to sleep at the end of a busy day; how I generally take it for granted that I have this mattress waiting to welcome and comfort me each night. Let me say thank you to the wonderful, hard-working men who build our mattresses. You work long hours and make this product every day. You might feel that you are not important or valued in our American society. I say that we don’t mean to take your contribution for granted but instead we need to be proud and grateful for all the hard working members of our country. We have many occupations and together we can all be respected and valued!

This year at our Thanksgiving table let us give thanks and respect to everyone who works in their chosen occupations to strengthen and secure our communities. This is the time to put aside economic, political and racial differences and stand together as people who want to be grateful for each other.

The last 2 years have been a challenge to my feeling of competence. Even though I am outwardly looking relaxed and able to cope with todays world of insanity I have started to wake up at night feeling afraid. Afraid of fascism, afraid of unstable racists with guns, afraid of climate chaos, afraid of political attempts to steal the life I’ve enjoyed for 71 years. I know, right? It’s not helping to worry about things I have no control over. All I have is 1 vote…that’s it. I’m not wealthy. I have no clout beyond conversation with my friends. My inbox is stuffed with politicians asking for money….and they never say thank you. They just want more, more, more. Well that’s all I have tonight. If I have any sudden insights or good ideas I will post again. Stay safe and healthy folks.

So now Putin is rattling his swords in Ukrainian communities and again, people are frightened and leaving their homes. Always our governments interfere with our lives, pushing us to sacrifice our lives. For what? So fat cats can get fatter? For power? For fame and infamy? It doesn’t stop the love we have for our families and children. Babies will continue to be born. Young people will still long for love and for meaningful lives. The world community will still need doctors and religion and fun.

There has been a lot of talk about “Right to Work” here lately because the new state legislature is now controlled by conservative Republicans (aka: Big Corporate Money).

Right to Work? What exactly does it mean? I’ve read that, if passed, employees will have the right to not join a union! Wow….no union dues!Employees would have the right to work without union protection! How wonderful! Employees would have no collective bargaining rights, no rights to safe working conditions, no defined work day, no benefits and would not be able to refuse overtime work for fear of being fired. Gosh….who wouldn’t want to save on union dues to get all of these new rights!

Next time someone talks about the Right to Work remember the rest of the sentence! It’s really the Right to Work without Rights! The Rights are controlled by Big Corporate Money (aka: Conservative Republicans).

Brought to you by my quirky inner edge!